Spring photos by Kara

I am blessed that my brothers chose wonderful women to marry. They are good women and have added bonuses too. My brother James, is married to Kara, the more I am around her the more I love her. She has lots of neat things about her and as an added bonus takes great pictures. She has asked to take a few pictures of the 3 cousins together and I also asked her to snap a few of the kids. We did this in her garage and it took literally a few minutes but the pictures are great! Here are several of them.

The Mighty Mississippi

The talk of the nation these days is the death of Osama Bin Laden and the rising Mississippi, including the current flooding it has caused. Yesterday, we decided for family home evening to drive down town to witness the near record height. It was impressive the width and to see parks that use to be, covered in water. People were taking tons of photos, my Ginny included. Then we went to Gus's fried chicken for dinner....yummy. I very much enjoy evenings with my family.So, today Ginny had a field trip and wanted one of us to come but did not want her brothers to come. Jake took off work to go, which made Ginny thrilled and then he plans to go read to Aubree's class. The cutest thing about the whole thing to me is not only did he take off work but he spent hours preparing a scavenger hunt for the kids with prizes and certificates of completion included too. He is such a good dad and each of the kids knows that he loves them individually.

Happy Mothers Day

Yesterday, was a day set aside in our nation to celebrate mothers. I am blessed with not only a remarkable mother but many great women in my life that have influence in me. I am also thankful to my mother in law to raising the man I married and preparing him for me. My mom is a women that has taught me the importance of reaching out to others, maintaining a clean home, and being willing to serve when needed, without hesitation, or being asked. She is a woman who values motherhood and is teaching me how to be a GREAT grandmother when the time comes. She is a comforter, therapist, friend, example, and teacher to me. I am blessed to have the mother I have. Also, there are many other women in my life at different circumstances in their lives that touch my life. These women are of different ages, marital statuses, health conditions, trials, some are mothers, some are not but they each touch me in a profound way and teach me a little more about life and handling those curve balls or home runs. So, on Mothers Day, I choose not only celebrate my mother but all women or daughters whom touch my life. Some nights when I come home from work, I have small moments that make me love my family a little more and here is on. I came home to discover all the babies snuggled up in bed with my hubby. So, I changed, moved Christopher (did not want him getting rolled on), and went to sleep in one of the kids beds. Within minutes, Jake had joined me....it made me smile!

Cinco de Mayo = 10 years of marital bliss

Ten years ago, I made the best decision of my life and began the most rewarding adventure for me to embark on....I said yes. Jake and I were married on May 5, 2001 in Town and Country Missouri at the St. Louis temple. On that day, I was unaware of the happiness that laid ahead. When one marries, they are usually in love but if they are like me, clueless to how that love will blossom and grow. Jake and I may have hit a few, brief, rough spots but they have made us what we are today and we are happy in love. Life is not always easy but I am forever thankful that Heavenly Father blessed me with such a good man to weather the storms with. I have no doubt that he loves me. Jake believes me and encourages me. He is my source of steadiness in life. He loves me unconditionally and is not only good to me but to our children. One way that I am certain of a loving, father in Heaven is that he manifests his love for me as his child by giving me one of his best sons! Jake shows me daily that he cares for me. I am blessed. Happy Anniversary to Us and I look forward with great anticipation to many more.

bye bye April....hello May

I love the weather in April but am happy to report that April is over for me this year. It started rough for me and ended the same way but May is much better already! A quick summary of my negative April: rear ended, had to replace evaporator coil on AC (expensive), had to repair parts of fence that were blown over, and discovered truth about something I did not believe.Did I mention at the second home someone store the air conditioner outside unit (I suspect it was the old renter) and the door was kicked in. But despite those things, there were some good things. Jake and I feel we weathered a financial challenge without having to use credit cards and many small moments of joys with my babies. May is a special month in my life anyway because it is the month that we celebrate our anniversary. We were also able to spend a little time with Michael and Amy as they passed through to begin a brief journey in their life. Originally, I was scheduled to be off for the first week of May but we are short handed and I volunteered to post pone my vacation week because Mothers day week is a little busier than average and I figure every person counts. So, I am looking forward to May being a good month and the beginning of many more.

Happy Easter

Time flies when you are having fun or are just busy....today is Easter Sunday and it has been a very pleasant day for our family. The Easter bunny came in our car while we were at church. Why? Well, Jake is out the door at 6:30 on Sunday mornings and we left from church to go to Jackson. In Jackson, we ate dinner with Nana and Papa and the kids had a small or large Easter egg hunt. The kiddos love going to Jackson and love even more when Elle is there. We are blessed to at least be near a bit of family.

Oh, what a week....

Oh, what a week this has been for me. It began last Sunday, I had the kids dressed for church and went to do the last childs hair. As I combed through, I notice little white things on the hair and sent another child to get the computer, so I could google. After, I determined that I believed it was lice eggs, I texted Jake and told him I would not be at church and asked him to have someone cover my class. Also, I did not want him to worry because seldom am I late and even more seldom do I miss. So, it was off to Walgreens for me to begin my entire day battle. I spent $64 on lice killer and came home and began treatment. However, I did not stop there. Later that afternoon, I poured alcohol in their (I say their because I treated both girls) and let it set for about two hours. Then after shampooing that out, I poured in vegetable oil and lathered the hair with Crisco shortening. My thoughts, I will kill those suckers, if they are there, one way or another....RID, alcohol, and suffocation. With each treatment, their hair was wrapped with saran wrap and a plastic bag. Also, I cleaned everything and did 16 loads of laundry. I refuse to spread them and more so, refuse to have them. Maybe I went overboard but you can not be too safe. So, Monday, I kept both girls home from school. Jake was also home sick and Tuesday too. Then Wednesday, was just busy...Thursday, I tool both boys to the doctor and they were given prescriptions. Friday, oh, Friday, it happened to April Fools and I was rear ended. I texted Jake and he did not believe me and thought I was joking. I was stressed out because I was on my way to get the girls from school and would now be late. After many attempts to get in touch with one of my sisters, I finally got hold of Charity and she went to get them. No one was hurt, so it was not a huge deal but added to my long week. That evening Jake took us to dinner, we had gift cards from Christmas still and then he surprised me with a chocolate heath concrete, which is chocolate frozen custard with crushed heath bars...it was yummy. Often, he does small, kind things like that for me.